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A 04/05-31
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 1 June 2005 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2005 | 83/2005
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Other Paper
| No.91 | - | Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the fourth quarter of 2004-05 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
| | (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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II. Questions
1. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | imported food products which only have food labels of the places of production but not those required by the Hong Kong authorities can be sold in Hong Kong; if so, of the reasons for that; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | local food products for export, which comply with the food labelling requirements of the importing places, can be sold in Hong Kong; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
2. Hon Vincent FANG Kang to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since the beginning of this year, the Housing Authority ("HA") has been withdrawing gradually the rent rebate for shop premises, which was granted in accordance with the progress of the population intake of the new housing estates involved, rendering many commercial tenants having to pay the market rent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of commercial tenants affected by the withdrawal of this rent rebate, the dates at which the tenants will start to pay market rent, and whether they have to pay the market rent only after their current tenancy agreements have expired;
| | (b) | of the special arrangements made by HA for commercial tenants who cannot afford the market rent, including whether negotiation will be arranged with them on re-setting the rent; and
| | (c) | whether commercial tenants who cannot afford the market rent will have their deposits refunded if they opt for early surrender of their tenancy, and of the procedure involved?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
3. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
It was reported that during the internal sale of uncompleted residential units, some property developers had not provided prospective buyers with the price list of all the flats put up for sale, and that the number of flats sold and their sale prices announced by the property developers concerned were at variance with the records of conveyancing transactions subsequently registered at the Land Registry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Lands Department has attached, when approving consents for pre-sale of uncompleted flats under the Consent Scheme, conditions requiring the property developers to provide prospective buyers with the price list of all the flats put up for sale at the internal sale of uncompleted flats and to ensure the accuracy of information released regarding the sale situation; if it has attached such conditions, whether any property developer has been found, since last year, to have violated them; if it has not, whether it will consider attaching such conditions;
| | (b) | of the legal basis for the existing mechanism adopted for regulating the internal sale of uncompleted flats by property developers, and the measures or penalties that may be imposed on those property developers who fail to comply with the regulatory requirements; and
| | (c) | whether it has assessed if there are any problems with the above regulatory mechanism; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether it will comprehensively review the mechanism, and even consider reducing or completely forbidding the internal sale of uncompleted flats by property developers?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
4. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the general out-patient clinics ("GOPCs") under the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the annual attendances at public GOPCs in the year preceding the HA's taking over 59 GOPCs from the Department of Health in July 2003 and thereafter;
| | (b) | the daily consultation quotas of various types per GOPC in the past three years; and given that HA will refer patients of its specialist out-patent clinics whose conditions have become stable to GOPCs for follow-up consultations, the percentage of attendances by such patients at GOPCs last year, and whether the authorities have correspondingly increased the quotas for consultation at GOPCs; and
| | (c) | whether the current average unit cost of HA's GOPC service is higher than that of private clinics; if so, the reasons for that, and whether it will look into ways to reduce costs?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
5. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
The Hospital Authority ("HA") has implemented the Contract Medical Officers Scheme ("CMOS") since 1997-98. All new recruits have since been appointed under three employment contracts that last for seven to eight years in total, and they must complete the relevant medical specialist training programmes and become a specialist within such contract period. Since the implementation of CMOS, all sorts of related problems have surfaced and are getting more serious. In this connection, will the Government inform this council:
| (a) | whether it knows, in each year since the introduction of CMOS, the respective numbers of doctors who were employed on contract terms, who were unable to complete their specialist training programmes due to their contracts not being renewed, and who were unable to transfer to other specialist departments for relevant training;
| | (b) | whether it knows the details of the employment conditions, such as remuneration level and fringe benefits, for doctors who joined HA in different years, and whether there are any differences in these employment conditions; if so, whether the authorities have any plans to resolve the problem of disparity in pay among doctors performing the same duties; and
| | (c) | how the Administration revolves the problems caused by CMOS, including reviewing the duration required for specialist training programmes in various specialist departments and assisting doctors who wish to transfer to other specialist departments for training, thereby facilitating the training and development of medical specialists?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
6. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
The Government consulted the public last year on building management and maintenance, and the results revealed that the public considered the introduction of mandatory building inspection was a practicable and effective long-term solution for arresting building decay. The authorities are currently working towards a second stage public consultation, focusing on the feasibility of introducing mandatory building inspection. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows if Singapore or other countries have formulated any policies on mandatory building inspection; if so, of a brief account of the major features of such policies;
| | (b) | when it will launch the second stage public consultation, and how the contents of the mandatory building inspection scheme to be proposed differ from those in the first stage; and whether it will focus on the options on how to require property owners to fulfil their responsibilities for ensuring the safety of their buildings; and
| | (c) | as owners of dilapidated buildings may not be able to have their properties underwritten by insurance companies, how the authorities will assist them in taking out the necessary insurance?
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| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Secretary for Home Affairs |
*7. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the plan to construct a logistics park at Siu Ho Wan on Lantau Island, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether, before formulating the above plan, it has comprehensively studied the market demand for and the economic benefits of the logistics park, to prove that there is an actual need for an additional logistics park in Hong Kong; if it has, of the study results; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it has examined the feasibility of alternative sites for the logistics park in accordance with the requirements under the technical guidelines for the environmental impact assessment issued by the Environmental Protection Department; if it has, of the sites involved, and the reasons for not including them in the scope of the current engineering feasibility study; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that the logistics park will involve large-scale reclamation works, whether the authorities have consulted the public on the reclamation and other issues, such as the demand and possible sites for the logistics park, etc; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*8. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the rent level of public rental housing ("PRH") estates under the Housing Authority, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the quarterly median rent-to-income ratios ("QMRIRs") for all PRH households in Hong Kong since the third quarter of 2003 and, by grouping these households according to housing estate and household size, the QMRIRs for each group for the same period;
| | (b) | the average quarterly rents paid by PRH tenants in each administrative district since the third quarter of 2003, and how such figures compare with those paid by private housing tenants with comparable incomes in the same respective districts; and
| | (c) | the timing for the Housing Authority to issue a consultation paper on the review of its public housing rent policy?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*9. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of the following over the past three years:
| (a) | the number of dyslexia cases and referrals handled by the Education and Manpower Bureau and the Department of Health each year and, among them, the respective numbers of cases involving children who have difficulties in motor coordination or other coordination difficulties and who are assessed to be gifted children;
| | (b) | whether the authorities set age limits for clients receiving assessment and support services tailor-made for students with dyslexia and difficulties in motor coordination (including counselling, treatment and child assessment services etc); if so, of the reasons for that, and how they dealt with over-aged students requiring the services; if not, whether all students assessed to be in need of the services were provided with such services; and
| | (c) | the annual numbers of cases of suspension of schooling or truancy of students with dyslexia?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower
*10. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
In reply to a Member's question at the Council meeting on 20 October last year, the Government pointed out that the tenant of the Tuen Mun cross-boundary ferry terminal had indicated that it would expedite the pier modification works and launch the ferry services to Macau as soon as possible. Moreover, in reply to a Member's question on 27 April this year, the Government further pointed out that it would try to facilitate the tenant's work with a view to enabling the early commissioning of the cross-boundary ferry terminal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | the above pier modification works have commenced; if so, of the estimated completion date; if not, the reasons for that and the estimated commencement date; and
| | (b) | it has estimated the commissioning date of the Tuen Mun cross-boundary ferry terminal; if so, of the commissioning date, and how it ensures that there will not be a delay; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*11. Hon KWONG Chi-kin to ask: (Translation)
Two accidents caused by strong gales toppling empty containers occurred on the 9th of last month, resulting in casualties. Regarding industrial safety at yards for loading, unloading and storage of containers ("container yards"), will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how it supervises the responsible persons of container yards to have the storage, stacking and unstacking of containers carried out in accordance with the safety requirements laid down by the Government; whether the Labour Department conducts regular inspections at container yards; if so, of the details of the inspections;
| | (b) | of the numbers of cases in which the Labour Department detected breaches of the safety requirements each year since 2000, the locations of the container yards concerned, the safety requirements breached, and the numbers of persons injured as a result of the breaches;
| | (c) | of the penalties imposed on the persons responsible for container yards for breaching the safety requirements; if no penalties were imposed, of the reasons;
| | (d) | whether the Government will consider requiring persons responsible for container yards to take special safety measures during rainstorms and typhoons, and whether the Hong Kong Observatory will consider announcing the maximum wind speeds in various areas during inclement weather, to assist persons responsible for container yards to take contingency measures; if not, of the reasons; and
| | (e) | whether the Government will formulate more stringent safety requirements on handling containers, such as requiring persons responsible for container yards or the Government authorities to arrange for designated persons to observe changes in the weather at the container yards, setting up a warning system against strong winds, and stipulating a height limit on the container stacks, to prevent recurrence of such accidents; if not, of the reasons?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*12. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that, as revealed by its Chairman on the 11th of last month, the Government had consulted the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong on resuming scheduled land auctions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it plans to resume scheduled land auctions in the near future; if so, of the reasons for that and the details of the plan (including the number of land auctions to be held each year, as well as the proposed number of sites to be put up for auction and their sizes); if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | it will consult this Council and the public before deciding whether scheduled land auctions should resume?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*13. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the problem of lack of repairs to fire service installations in public housing estates is serious. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints received by the authorities over the past five years about the lack of repair or malfunctioning of the fire service installations in public housing estates;
| | (b) | of the quantity of each type of fire service installations in public housing estates replaced by the authorities in each of the past five years, and the tests carried out in the same period on the design, performance and safety of fire service installations, as well as the test results; and
| | (c) | whether it has assessed the environmental factors which may affect the stability of the fire service installations in public housing estates, and of the measures to ensure the stability and reliability of such fire service installations?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*14. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how public utilities such as power and gas companies currently formulate the mechanisms for setting fuel surcharges, and whether they follow a set of criteria or indicators in calculating such surcharges;
| | (b) | of the respective adjustments of fuel surcharges by various public utilities over the past five years, and how the authorities monitor such adjustments in order to ensure that the increment rates are reasonable; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider enhancing the transparency of the exiting fee-setting mechanisms of various public utilities, as well as reviewing and improving the mechanisms concerned, so as to keep the operation of the mechanisms in line with fair and reasonable principles?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*15. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, persons certified to be severely disabled by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority are entitled to the Normal Disability Allowance. If they are found to be in need of constant attention from others, they will be entitled to the Higher Disability Allowance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of recipients of the Normal Disability Allowance and Higher Disability Allowance at present, together with a breakdown of the figures and their percentages by types of disability; and
| | (b) | whether doctors of public hospitals and the Department of Health have been issued guidelines on assessing whether an applicant for disability allowance is severely disabled; if so, of the details of the guidelines; if not, the criteria based on which assessments are made and how the Administration ensures that the assessments by doctors are objective and fair?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*16. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
While Queen's Road Central is a busy road with traffic congestion during commuting hours, the neighbouring Des Voeux Road Central is only open to exempted vehicles such as buses and trams, thus aggravating the traffic congestion along Queen's Road Central. Regarding measures to relieve the traffic congestion along Queen's Road Central, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it will consider relaxing the existing traffic control measures implemented for Des Voeux Road Central on a limited basis, such as by providing drop-off points for taxis and light buses along designated sections of Des Voeux Road Central during specified hours; if so, of the details of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | it has formulated any interim or long-term measures to ease the traffic congestion along Queen's Road Central; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*17. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that while the number of patients with depressive illness has increased substantially in recent years, the general public lack understanding and show little concern about the illness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of patients who were diagnosed in the past three years as having developed depressive illness, together with a breakdown by their age and gender;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed the pressure on public health care services and the negative impact on the economy brought about by the increase in the number of patients with depressive illness; if so, of the assessment result;
| | (c) | of the publicity and educational programmes for enhancing the public's understanding of and ability to identify depressive illness; and
| | (d) | whether it will accept the suggestion to designate 1 April each year as Depressive Illness Awareness Day; if so, when it will be implemented; if not, of the justifications for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*18. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
I have recently received complaints from many residents of Yuen Long, Tung Chung and Tsuen Wan that many worn-out bicycles were abandoned on the roadsides in these districts, adversely affecting the streetscape, environmental hygiene and road safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the numbers of bicycles confiscated by the authorities and prosecutions instituted in respect of unauthorized parking of bicycles in each of the past three years; and
| | (b) | whether, apart from the measures mentioned in (a) above, the authorities will consider increasing the number of bicycle parking spaces to provide sufficient parking spaces for users of bicycles; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*19. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Budget for the current fiscal year, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the Consolidated Account for the last fiscal year has recorded, after discounting $25.6 billion in proceeds from bond issuance, a deficit of $4 billion, which is significantly lower than the estimate of $62.1 billion made in last year's Budget and the revised estimate of $13.4 billion made in this year's Budget, whether it has reviewed if a more aggressive attitude and approach should be adopted in revenue estimates in the future, and whether, in the light of the latest financial position, it will revise the estimates of expenditure for the current fiscal year, including considering the adoption of additional relief measures; and
| | (b) | as it has stated that it will continue to pursue the target of bringing the share of public expenditure in Gross Domestic Product ("GDP") down to 20% or below, and has predicted that this percentage will gradually fall from 20.2% in this fiscal year to 16% in 2009-10, of its measures to retrench public expenditure in order to achieve the above targets, and whether it has set a lower end percentage so as to prevent an excessive retrenchment of public expenditure?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*20. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, promulgated by the European Union ("EU"), will come into effect in August this year and July next year respectively. Electronic products exported to EU will then be affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the quantity and total value of computer and electronic products exported to EU from Hong Kong in each of the past three years;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed how the above Directives affect the business community in Hong Kong, especially the smaller enterprises; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | of the specific measures to enable the computer and electronic products exported from Hong Kong to EU to comply with such Directives?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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*For written reply.
III. Bills
First Reading
| 1. | Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005
| | 2. | Marriage (Introduction of Civil Celebrants of Marriages and General Amendments) Bill
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Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)
| 1. | Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005 | : | Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
| | 2. | Marriage (Introduction of Civil Celebrants of Marriages and General Amendments) Bill | : | Secretary for Security
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Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2005 | : | Secretary for Security
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IV. Members' Bills
First Reading
The Methodist Church, Hong Kong, Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2005
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| The Methodist Church, Hong Kong, Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2005 | : | Hon LAU Chin-shek
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Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| Federation of Hong Kong Industries (Amendment) Bill 2005 | : | Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen
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V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that in relation to the -
| (a) | Road Traffic (Safety Equipment) (Amendment) Regulation 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 65 of 2005;
| | (b) | Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment) Regulation 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 66 of 2005;
| | (c) | Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 67 of 2005; and
| | (d) | Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 68 of 2005,
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and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 11 May 2005, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 29 June 2005.
- Demanding the suspension of privatization
Hon Albert CHAN: (Translation)
That, as the Government's recent public asset privatization plans, such as the listing of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust, the privatization of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and the proposed merger of the two railway corporations, have aroused public concerns, and such plans involve issues of whether the implementation of privatization is beneficial to the community as a whole and whether it will affect people's livelihood and widen the disparity between the rich and the poor, etc, this Council demands that the Government should act prudently and suspend the privatization plans concerned and that, before the implementation of any public asset privatization plans, ad hoc committees comprising representatives from various sectors of the community should be set up to comprehensively and thoroughly assess and study their cost-effectiveness, return, legality and impact on the general public, etc and, based on the findings of such assessments and studies, conduct full and extensive consultations; furthermore, the Government should ensure that any privatization plan which involves the public interest is for the benefit of the general public and must be subject to public scrutiny.
Amendments to motion
| (i) | Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)
To add "as well as anxieties among employees" after "public concerns"; to add ", employees' rights and benefits, labour relations," after "people's livelihood"; to add ", including trade unions," after "various sectors of the community"; and to add "and employees" after "general public".
| | (ii) | Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai: (Translation)
To add "of varying forms and in different areas, including transportation, water supply, social welfare, health care financing, etc" after "before the implementation of any public asset privatization plans"; to delete "their" after "assess and study" and substitute with "the"; to delete "," after "return" and substitute with "and"; to delete "and" after "legality" and substitute with "of the different forms of privatization plans as well as their"; and to add "acceptance and" after "subject to public".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
- Investment income of the Exchange Fund
Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)
That this Council urges the Government to review the existing agreement between the Government and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the methodology for sharing the Exchange Fund's investment income, and allocate more investment income of the Exchange Fund to the Government, so as to increase government revenue.
Amendment to motion
Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)
To delete "agreement" after "review the existing" and substitute with "methodology for sharing the Exchange Fund's investment income"; to delete "on the methodology for sharing the Exchange Fund's investment income, and" after "Hong Kong Monetary Authority" and substitute with ","; and to delete "so as to increase government revenue" after "to the Government," and substitute with "and ensure that there is stable government revenue from the investment income; in determining the level of the Exchange Fund's investment income to be allocated to the Government, the principle of keeping expenditure within the limits of revenues in drawing up the budget, striving to achieve a fiscal balance, avoiding deficits and keeping the budget commensurate with the growth rate of the gross domestic product must be strictly followed".
Public Officer to attend : Financial Secretary
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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